


Star Light, Star Bright

by KeybladeRiku



Category: League of Legends
Genre: Gen, Magical Girls
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-14
Updated: 2016-10-14
Packaged: 2018-08-22 08:57:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8280194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KeybladeRiku/pseuds/KeybladeRiku
Summary: Poppy dislikes the idea of Jinx being a Star Guardian.Lux helps Jinx come to terms with being a part of the Guardians.





	

A girl, sitting atop a hill. A gentle breeze ruffles her pig-tailed, red hair. She seems pensive; the saddened, disgruntled look on her face the only hint of the war that rages inside her. A discarded school uniform lay in a pile at her side...if she were to consider it, she wasn't really sure why she wore it in the first place. She hadn't intended on going to school, on seeing them, but that, she supposed, was part of the problem. She now wore casual clothes; a simple tank-top with equally simple shorts. She smiled faintly at the two, adorable blobs dancing playfully around her; her familiars.

 

That smile disappeared the moment she heard the voice, as she knew, full well, that she was about to confront her issues head-on in likely as physical a form as they'll ever receive.

 

"You know you have a duty, right?" called a blue-haired girl.

 

_A rooftop. A purple-haired goddess, paragon of elegance, reading gleefully in the peacefulness of the afternoon. An interruption; a door slamming open to reveal a panicked, pink-haired beauty. Her junior, surely concerned about the continued lack of occupancy at a certain desk in her classroom. She sighs, closing the book in resignation at the approach of their leader. This conversation, she knew, was going to occur eventually. Pray as she might to avoid it, it was going to come. She rose from her seated position, bracing herself against what was sure to be an oncoming storm._

_Lux spoke._

_"We need to talk about Jinx."_

Jinx stood, turning to face the latest arrival. The first thing she noticed was her attire; vivid hues of blue, matching her hair, subdued only by the armor she wore over it. A large, heavy star adorned her breastplate, the symbol of her – of their – calling. There was no sign of the hammer, but Jinx would confidently swear on the First Star that she was here to fight, and that her weapon would be at her beck and call. She sighed, snapping her fingers, prompting the change into her Star Guardian attire. She had neither the time nor the patience for the theatrics right now, as she extended a hand and softly whispered the name of her minigun, prompting the familiar to change forms and materialize into the weapon she needed.

 

If Poppy was here for a fight, whether it be to prove a point or just to vent some frustration, Jinx would bring it to her.

 

 _“What about her?”_  
  
Janna’s voice was calm as she asked the question, which slightly perplexed Lux. They’d all been dealing with her abrasiveness lately and, as their leader, Lux struggled with keeping her in check. Jinx had never wanted to be one of them. They had all known that from the very beginning, and each attempted to come to terms with it in their own way.

_“I might be the leader, but you’re the one who knows the ins and outs of this best. How do we make her cooperate? How do we make her see…our side of things,” Lux responded hesitantly._

_Janna laughed. It was still something that Lux was getting used to, the way the wind seemed to envelop her voice, make it sound so serene and peaceful at all times. Lux had, at the very beginning, been ready to cede leadership to Janna. It caught her off guard when she refused, considering the woman oozed confidence. However, she had reasons – and secrets – of her own, so Lux had never pushed the subject._

_“That’s not really how this works,” Janna began, “not now, not ever. Have you ever stopped to ponder why, exactly, Jinx seems to have the most power out of us all? Despite being so fresh?”_

_Lux simply levelled a cool gaze at her, a wordless prompt to carry on._

_“It’s because she’s the most selfish of us all,” Janna finished._

_Selfish? She knew that. They ALL knew that, and, realistically, that was the biggest obstacle they had to face. If Jinx didn’t want to do it, she wouldn’t. If she felt pressured, or even needed, she was out of there. If it wasn’t fun, or even remotely entertaining…she could spend a long time listing different scenarios in which Jinx would absolutely refuse to work with any of them._

_“Selfish?” Lux voiced inquiringly._

Poppy couldn’t help but grin. Engaging Jinx had always been off-limits, and she knew Lux would have her head if she tried…but provoking her into a fight? That was a different story altogether, and she was young and hotheaded enough to take the bait. She’d put that disobedient wretch in her place. The very sight of her almost made Poppy sick; Jinx stood against everything she valued. She giggled, an uncharacteristic sound, as she brought forth her own weapon.

 

They stared each other down. Jinx had the range advantage. Poppy had the advantage of knowing what she was doing.

 

Jinx broke first; she fired a short burst, testing Poppy, following it up with a signature Zap. In response, Poppy swung her hammer at the air, knocking the barrage aside and dashing forward. She raised her buckler in front of her while readying her hammer, prepared to use the force of her momentum to strike a jarring blow to her opponent.

 

The red-haired guardian predicted as much, stepping nimbly to the side. The barrels of her gun were pressed up against Poppy’s gut a split second later, and she didn’t hesitate to fire. Poppy grunted a bit at the impact, then grinned as Jinx noticed that the shots barely even phased her. Underestimating the strength of an opponent’s armour could be a fatal mistake; the girl’s inexperience was showing. The hammer was raised, a beautiful arc of blue light left in its wake, as it smashed into Jinx’s side.

 

“Kuro,” was her growled response as she switched out her weapons.

 

Jinx fired, once. She used the force of the shot to propel herself backwards, out of Poppy’s range, so she could once again gain the advantage. A smart, albeit predictable move. Poppy didn’t hesitate even a second, ignoring what damage she did take, as she pounced after Jinx. She closed the distance at a speed the newest guardian wouldn’t have anticipated from a girl weighed down by armour and a giant hammer.

 

“You’re pretty quick, for a midget with a hammer!”

 

_Janna couldn’t help but smile. She’d been holding on to this information for weeks, waiting patiently for the young leader to work through things herself. It would seem that, unfortunately, she needed a bit of a nudge, however. Some part of her thought back to her past, hating that the task of bringing yet another girl under the wing of the First Star fell to her. Some other, more natural part of her simply wanted to watch them succeed._

_“Yes, selfish,” she repeated. “Just think about it. We all have…purpose. We’re all chosen for a reason, right? Most of us, we just want to do the greater good. List them.”_

_“Our reasons? Poppy wants to do right by the world, she wants to fight for justice and to save people. This is her life, her work now. Her powers aren’t a toy, her duty not a game. She was chosen for her desire for a higher purpose.”_

_“You,” Lux continued, “I haven’t quite fully pieced together. But if I had to venture a guess, I’d say that it’s because you seem to have a natural affinity for life and the things around you. I’m not sure what your purpose is anymore, but when you were chosen, you probably just wanted to protect the things you hold dear.”_

_“Well,” Janna nodded, “I wouldn’t say that that’s entirely accurate, but close enough. Go on.”_

_“Lulu’s a bit of a special case,” Lux resumed, “as it seems as if she’s just…curious about the world. I think her method of seeing the world around us is what got her chosen. Not so much born of a wish to fight or to save, but some thirst for knowledge – or maybe just some way to keep life interesting.”_

_“And yourself?” prompted Janna._

_“I just wanted to be something,” Lux sighed. “I cast a net into the world, my feelings reaching out for something greater. A higher purpose, a reason to fight. The First Star bestowed that upon me, and I haven’t doubted it since.”_

_“So why Jinx?” Janna persisted._

“You have no respect!” Poppy growled as her hammer once again met with Kuro’s weaponized form. “No appreciation. No honour, or loyalty,” she continued, each word followed by a swing.

 

Jinx smiled, teasingly. Not so much because she disagreed; Poppy was right, after all. She smiled because she knew it would egg her on, push her over the edge. There was some vicious, primal part of her that really wanted to see what Poppy was capable of when she got serious. She’d known this day was coming for a long time now. It was clear in the way Poppy looked at her when they met in the halls at school. It was in the way she quietly argued with Lux, in the way she prayed to the First Star to revoke any and all of Jinx’s powers.

 

To Poppy, the Star Guardians were a force. A small army unto themselves; a cadre of powerful, universal warriors. This wasn’t fun or passion, it was life or death. The fact that Jinx could be so aloof about the whole thing enraged her to no end.

 

“And?” Jinx inquired teasingly, smiling.

 

Poppy snarled, baring her teeth at the opposing Guardian. She was beginning to lose herself to the anger. Jinx took a step back; Poppy took a step forward. She realized a split second too late, however, that in her battle lust, she hadn’t considered the situation. She heard the faint click before her mind could process it, and she found herself rooted in place by one of Jinx’s blasted grenades.

 

Jinx giggled.

 

_“I don’t know. Like I said, she doesn’t…care. She seems to have never wanted this, none of the duty, the responsibility. None of the work.”_

_Janna sighed. “So you haven’t noticed. Jinx’s power, the reason she was chosen, lies in the fact that she wishes to change.”_

_“Change?”_  
  
Janna nodded, continuing. “Jinx has always been something of a rebel, right? Wreaking havoc no matter where she goes. She always makes sure that eyes on her; she has a flair for the dramatic, even on her calmer days. If you just watch her for a moment, in those rare times that she’s with us, you’d notice. She wants to belong, be a part of something.”

_Lux was visibly perplexed by this. If what Janna was saying was true, and Jinx just wanted to fit in, then why did she oppose them so much? Why was she always so against being with them, being their friend? It wasn’t that Lux didn’t trust Janna’s assessment, but simply that she couldn’t believe it based on everything that’s happened._

_“So why does that make her so powerful?” Lux asked._

_“Because her power lies in her desire to be the best version of herself. Our power, essentially, is finite. Are we strong enough to protect people, save the universe, so on and so forth? We’ll eventually reach a point where we’re satisfied with what we can do, and we’ll stop growing. What happens, then, when all you want is to improve yourself? You continuously see flaws. Areas of improvement. Jinx’s growth is exponential and her ceiling is pretty much non-existent, if only because she inherently believes that it’s never enough, and she can always be better than she is.”_

_Lux took a moment to process that. She supposed, thinking on it, that Janna might actually be right. Jinx had a habit of pushing them away, but she always showed up when she needed them most. There were also times where she didn’t seem dismissive, but rather hesitant about being a member. As if…as if she weren’t sure that she should really be allowed to be a part of something. Maybe, just maybe, if Lux could talk to her, play to those feelings, Jinx would open up._

_She began thinking of how to go about doing that; working through when would be a good time to approach her, what she would say. Her thoughts were cut short, however, by the rooftop door crashing open violently. A short girl with vibrant green hair was in the doorway, panting. She seemed slightly panicked but, also, for some reason, elated._

_“I hate to crash the party,” Lulu said, her tone of voice indicating almost the exact opposite. “But we’ve got trouble.”_

Jinx didn’t even hesitate to act; the moment that Poppy was stuck in her trap, she threw everything at her. A barrage of bullets, a Zap, and a large, powerful attack made by combining Kuro and Shiro’s powers. The impact was explosive; every single attack connected, leaving behind a pillar of pink smoke.

 

The fierceness of their conflict was starting to be apparent on both combatants. Poppy was battered and bruised, especially after that last onslaught. Jinx herself was no better, having taken quite a few impactful blows from Poppy’s hammer. This was going to end soon, and they both knew it; the only problem was that neither was really confident in their victory. They stared each other down, pacing. One mistake would cost either fighter the victory.

 

Jinx grinned. Poppy grimaced, feral. They charged across the battlefield at one another.

 

“Enough!”

 

The voice boomed across the battlefield, commanding. It was unmistakable: that voice belonged to Lux. What shocked Jinx and Poppy, however, was how absolutely unquestionable that single word was. Most days, Lux, despite being their leader, was calm, somewhat hesitant. Far too accommodating, trying to please everyone. The way she said that one word, however…that was a tone of voice that would brook no argument.

 

Furthermore, before either Jinx or Poppy could process the command and stop themselves, they were enveloped in an unbreakable cage of light. Poppy glared at Jinx through it, attempting to break its hold and bring this fight to term. Jinx, however, simply stared at the pink-clad Star Guardian who had intervened. Behind her, seemingly equally as shocked with Lux’s sudden shift in personality, were the two remaining Guardians.

 

“Take her,” Lux ordered to Lulu and Janna, gesturing towards Poppy with her staff. “I’ll deal with her breaking a direct command later. For now, I’d like to talk to this one,” she finished with a pointed look at the brilliant, red figure.

 

Janna and Lulu exchanged a look, but with the mood Lux seemed to be in, they weren’t about to argue with her. Janna enveloped Poppy in a restricting wind, even though she was still bound by the light, and Lulu had Pix circle her, just in case. Without exchanging a single word, they escorted her away from the battlefield, leaving Lux with Jinx.

 

“What?” Jinx growled warningly as she plopped down on the grass.

 

She was on edge. There was something in Lux’s eyes, something that told Jinx some form of conversation was coming her way – lecture, reprimand, whatever. She could handle it, there was no reason she had to play by their rules. She steeled her resolve, fully prepared to just get this all out of the way and move on.

 

“Why?”

 

The innocence in the question caught Jinx off guard, completely shattering her expectations.

 

“She came at me,” Jinx stated plainly, “wanted to prove a point, I guess.”

 

“And which point is that?”  
  
“That I don’t belong,” she found herself saying, despite herself. “That I don’t take this seriously, that I don’t care.”

 

“Isn’t that true, though?” Lux continued, observing the girl sitting on the grass.

 

“What’s with this?” Jinx replied, defensively.

 

“Janna told me something,” Lux said softly, sitting next to her. “She said that you became a Guardian because you were trying to…improve yourself. So I’m curious.”

 

Jinx glared at Lux, not sure what to think. Some part of her was wondering if she should be honest, whereas the more sheltered part of her wanted to just blow it off. If she did that, though…she’d be passing up possibly the only opportunity to open up about everything plaguing her.

 

“Sure,” she said, lying down with her hands behind her head. “I guess I just got tired of being ‘Jinx,’ you know? I’m always breaking things, being destructive. I do it because some part of me craves the attention, the acknowledgement. I want to be seen. Not accepted, but seen, right? Somewhere along the way, though, I stopped wanting to be that girl that was just known as ‘the Loose Cannon.’ I wanted to be someone,” she paused, looking at Lux.

 

The pink-clad Guardian simply smiled, nodding for her to go on.

 

“So at one point, I just decided that I wanted to change, for the better. I didn’t want to be normal – I don’t ever, ever want to be normal. Just better. I wanted friends, I wanted to fit in. My own eccentric group of individuals that I could have fun with without feeling like I was betraying my own existence, you know? The First Star obliged, brought me to you guys.”

 

“So then,” Lux said tentatively, “why fight us so much? Why object to almost anything and everything?”  
  
“Because,” Jinx sighed, “part of me is still struggling with the whole thing. I got all this power, I met all these people, and everything changed almost overnight. I’m not you, Lux. You have a smile that could light up a room, you have charisma, and beauty. People are naturally attracted to you…but me? I’m abrasive, I’m rude, I’m destructive – both to my environment and to myself.”

 

“Let me get this straight,” Lux reasoned, “you’re afraid to join us because you’re afraid of getting what you want?”

 

“Yup.”  
  
“You’re a fool, then, Jinx. Because – save, perhaps, Poppy – we’re all waiting for you to just accept what you are now and be one of us.”

 

Jinx scoffed, turning her head to the side. It was an act, and she was sure Lux knew that, too, as her eyes teared up slightly. She’d always been afraid. She’d been worried that they would never accept her, or that they only tolerated her presence because she was one of them, not because they wanted her to be. If nothing else, this was one of the most precious moments of Jinx’s life; the realization that she didn’t have to be alone anymore.

 

As if her sensing her feelings, her deep trust and current affection for Lux, Kuro and Shiro pranced around her. They landed nimbly on her shoulder, moved along her body in a playful manner that left Lux giggling. Something was so…strange, it was so weird to Lux that such a short, simple conversation was all that was needed to get Jinx to open up. She considered it laughable, but she also knew that there never really was an opportunity to talk to her before this.

 

The moment of bliss was interrupted by the sights and sounds of explosions in the nearby town – and given the rapidly darkening sky, the attackers definitely weren’t locals.

 

Lux rose, sighing as she patted herself down to wipe off any stray grass. She extended a friendly, welcoming hand towards Jinx; their first step in being a true, effective team in whatever galactic war they’d have to fight as per their contract.

 

“Let’s go,” she said, exasperated, “we’ve got work to do.”

 

With a smile, Jinx took the outstretched hand.


End file.
